Many ESL students and Japanese to English translators in Japan could improve their language and culture skills through focusing on sentence length in Japanese to English translation, improving English writing, and learning about handshaking.

1. Sentence length in translation

This section is for translators working on Japanese to English translations and addresses sentence lengths of English sentences. Many Japanese writers use very long sentences, while not many English writers do. Long sentences are just too confusing. Let´s take a look at the following sentence:

As almost all of the writing work being discussed here concerns Japanese to English translations, this section will address sentence lengths of English sentences, which can get very confusing when they are too long; many Japanese writers use very long sentences, compared to English writers.

The above sentence is not well written. As you can tell, it combines the first three sentences in this section. The problem with this sentence, aside from poor writing, is that it is just too long. It has too much punctuation: three commas and a semicolon. Semicolons normally connect two short sentences, not two long ones. Sentences with too many commas are confusing. The sentence also has too many ideas. A general rule is that each sentence should have one idea.

Many Japanese sentences are very long and contain more than one idea. Japanese to English translators often translate one Japanese sentence into one English sentence. This is the error that creates so many difficult to understand English sentences. Skilled translators will divide one long Japanese sentence into two, three, or even four smaller English sentences and reorganize them.

The next time you translate a long Japanese sentence into English, remember to divide it into shorter English sentences. Each sentence should be one idea. This will help you to become a better English writer.

2. Improving your English writing

There are two ways to improve your English writing. One is to read about writing and to write. This way involves looking at writing books and studying rules that tell you how to write, as well as practicing writing. This is certainly important. Everyone needs to learn the rules, and everyone needs to practice writing. This includes working on editing and revising, which are at the heart of good writing.

Today, however, this section will examine an important component for writing improvement. This component is reading. The best way to improve your writing is not to write, but to read. Find good writing and read it. The more examples of good writing you read, the more you will internalize what good writing is. Your reading will be reflected in your writing.

Some fields of writing, such as technical writing, are not noted for good writing. Many writers like to use jargon and make their writing difficult to understand. This is not good writing. Good writing is easy to understand, flowing clearly from sentence to sentence, from idea to idea. Regardless of what your field is, write clearly so your readers can understand.

3. Handshaking in Japan

Culture is an important part of communication. While translating and writing are often solitary tasks, many translators and writers in Japan meet people from other countries. Should you bow or shake hands? Since you are in Japan, bowing is probably more appropriate. Many Japanese meeting Westerners in Japan, however, often extend their hands to shake hands. This is fine too. If someone extends their hand to shake hands with you, that is fine too. There are no hard and fast rules. There are only two ideas to remember. The first is that a firm handshake is good, but this is not a contest to see who is stronger. The second is that a handshake is very short. Move your hand up, then down, and then back up to the original position. Don´t pump. Don´t hold hands for a long time. This is not physical exercise or handholding on a date. It is a quick handshake, originating from extending your hand to show that you were not holding a weapon.

We hope you found this article of interest and are looking forward to reading more of our articles on ESL and translation.